On Saturday 20th April, Hillingdon Athletics Club hosted their first ever Athletics Force volunteer day. After being invited by the prestigious England Athletics, the local club worked tirelessly in the heat to tidy and prepare the track for the forthcoming athletics season.
In temperatures surpassing 20° celsius, volunteers and athletes worked side by side to clean sandpits and throwing cages, revamp the seating, tidy storage spaces, cut back thick foliage around the track and overall make the 13-year-old track, opened by the Queen, look brand new.
Hillingdon itself offers countless facilities to get fit and active, all of them easily accessible and utilised by a lot of the borough and wider community. The track is not exempt from this fact and is not only the home of Hillingdon Athletics Club, but used annually by schools and often by the general public.
Cleaning up the track comes at a time in which this country is being encouraged to clean up their local area, specifically the countryside, all in a bid to prevent the pollution of habitats and make popular areas more aesthetically pleasing. Those who attended the event at Hillingdon Athletics Track mentioned the vast turnout, and England Athletics expressed how impressed they were with the efforts.
The day was a great chance for athletes to give back to the track they know and love, as well as a chance for families to get involved.
Now, with an almost sparkling track, HAC is ready to welcome in the new athletics season: months of competing after a winter of hard training, and we all hope for a successful turnout.